Just a Quickie

Good morning, Blogger friends! The 'C' word is imminent and I thought I'd take a quick 5 minutes to empty my camera before all the festivities. Plans are slightly up in the air as I write, owing to some family members having tested positive for the other 'C' word last weekend. Well, L tested positive and her boyfriend, J, is feeling rotten but is still negative. We'll have to wait and see how things progress in the next few days.

December has flown by. We are currently cat sitting for our neighbours who are in the USA visiting their son. We have been coughed on at various events throughout the last few weeks, so how R and I remain symptom free is a mystery. I am, however, crossing everything that that remains the case.

Here then are a few reminders of December 2022. A few of the photos are a bit blurry, but they do the intended  job:

A walk to White Horse Hill at Uffington:

 

Dragon Hill - a small hillock below the white horse. Legend has it that St. George slayed the dragon here and the bare patch of chalk is where the dragon's blood was spilled:

The white horse:

Th Giant's Stair - ice cut terraces, later used for early farming:

Another play at The New Era Theatre. After the last one where the prompter played quite a prominent role, this one was disappointingly good! :O) Especially, the goldfish one. There was actual acting and everything!

Blurry photo of a new fawn, taken very early in the morning:

Christmas market and fair:

Followed by a quick trip to an art exhibition at the town hall:

Mark Gatiss' version of 'A Christmas Carol' at the corn exchange. It was excellent:

A trip to London to take L out for a birthday lunch:

After hearing that Eddie Izzard is planning to re-enter 'man mode' in order to play Sherlock Holmes, I fell down a rabbit hole researching Jeremy Brett - in my opinion the quintessential Holmes. After discovering that he lived by Clapham Common, we did a little pilgrimage after lunch to view his house and a memorial bench and tree near the bandstand:

Another plaque on a nearby bench brought me to tears. Dedicated to a four year old boy, 'on an eternal bear hunt'. Life can be very unfair.

Making kimchi. It's nearly all gone now, so I shall have to make more in the new year:

Vegan Market - we enjoyed a curry box and bought a slice of coffee walnut cake to take home:

On Christmas Day last year, we were sitting by the Red Sea in Jordan, enjoying french fries and mojitos! Having told our neighbours that, whatever we ended up doing on Christmas Day this year, we planned to relive last year's mojitos, they kindly left us some in kit form!

My lovely yarny advent calendar from Barbara at Coastal Ripples. I add a square to my cosy memory blanket every day - photo to follow in the New Year - whilst enjoying a cup of tea and a yummy treat! It's the highlight of my day:

For R's birthday, I booked tickets for a concert at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. It was 'Christmas with John Rutter' and the great man himself was the conductor. He was very sweet and enthusiastic and, as there was audience participation for some of the carols, we can officially say that we have been conducted by him! We had dinner beforehand at Edemame in Holywell Street, then explored the Broad Street Christmas market and had a coffee in the Waterstone's cafe to warm up before the concert began:

Lastly, we went to some Midwinter Revels at Shaw House, our local Elizabethan Manor. Mulled wine and Christmas tunes were enjoyed, played on a variety of mediaeval instruments. It was, however, a veritable cough-fest. One persistent culprit was eventually forced to leave the hall after sufficient people gave him enough black looks:

Well, that's all for now. I'll see you on the other side. Have the most wonderful Christmas and may 2023 bring you peace, health and happiness. 

Toodle pip for now. x